Omantel and Ericsson showcase 5G experience in Oman

15/11/2017 07:39 AST

Omantel, the leading telecom provider in the Sultanate and Ericsson have successfully conducted a live 5G showcase at the Omantel Head Office in Muscat, Oman that displayed 5G capabilities in a real-world environment - including tests on speed, mobility, and latency. The event called "Technology Days" was held on November 12-14, 2017.

The 5G showcase also involved advanced 5G features such as beamforming and beam-tracking with full transformation placing Omantel at the forefront of technology innovation and leadership in the region.

By using a 800MHz of spectrum bandwidth in near millimetre wave frequency band, the 5G showcase system displayed a performance that is much greater than the most advanced available 4G networks. The showcase also achieved an aggregate site throughput of more than 25Gbps, which is significantly better than current 4G networks.

Talal Said al Mamari, CEO Omantel says: "The future of communications is 5G, and we are looking forward to introducing the people of Oman to this innovative smart technology that will change the way we live and do business. This technology will be a change-maker affecting various key sectors such as healthcare, mining, and agriculture to name just a few." The 5G showcase is the first in a series of trials that Omantel and Ericsson have agreed to conduct to prepare the network for the 5G evolution. The technology in itself is currently under development with Omantel conducting trials on different spectrums and studying the network requirements and costs involved. Tests are underway on various applications and in the areas to be serviced.

Guided by its 3.0 transformation strategy which has digital transformation and innovation in offerings as pillars, Omantel has undertaken the 5G trial as its latest step to aid the digital transformation process of the Sultanate. 5G will be instrumental in realising the vision of transforming Oman into a sustainable knowledge society by leveraging information and communication technologies (ICT) to improve services.

5G Technology is expected to offer diverse services and use cases ranging from Smart Agriculture, Flood Sensors, Industrial Applications and Control, Smart Meters, Remote Training, Remote Surgery, Shipment Tracking, Fleet Management and Traffic Safety and Control. 5G technology will also drive the evolution of Mobile Broadband to Enhanced Mobile Broadband offering Media Anywhere, Broadcasting and Augmented Reality.

Even though these trials are being held, it will still be some time before the wireless technology becomes a reality as it is still under development and testing.

According to the preliminary indicators, this technology will not be officially launched before 2020 and the official protocol is not expected to be completed before 2020.

Oman Daily Observer